PM escapes threat to his control of Parliament as Labor backs down on encryption

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has survived a dire threat to his control of Parliament from a determined attempt to change asylum seeker policy, sparking a blame game that forced Labor to back down on national security laws.

Mr Morrison blocked attempts to amend migration laws to transfer more asylum seekers from Manus Island and Nauru to Australia, but was forced to delay a major policy on energy in order to avoid a humiliating loss in Parliament.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Parliament House on the final sitting day of the year.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The ruthless tactics deepened hostilities between the major parties on Parliament’s last sitting for the year, in an extraordinary day of tactical moves on both sides to secure a political victory ahead of the next election.

In an inflammatory attack, Defence Minister Christopher Pyne accused Labor in a tweet of helping "terrorists and paedophiles" by putting the security laws at risk, only to delete the claim hours before Labor agreed to the laws.

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Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed down on the national security laws but accused Mr Morrison of holding Parliament "hostage".

"I don’t bluff with the safety of Australians. I don’t play a game with the safety of Australians," Mr Shorten said.

"This government went home without doing their job. I won’t."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten cross paths during a tense final sitting day of the year. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

The debate on the asylum seeker changes and the encryption laws left the government without enough time to resolve the third policy dispute of the day – a new competition law that could break up big energy companies.

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The divestment power, to be overseen by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, is an element of the "big stick" powers Mr Morrison wants to use to pressure the energy companies to reduce their prices.

The energy bill was not passed by the lower house and is yet to go to the Senate, which has voted to refer the changes to a committee inquiry that could run for months.

The delay deprives the government of an immediate threat to the energy companies to force them to lower prices from January 1.

The government demanded Labor pass new laws to give security agencies greater power to intercept online communications, despite warnings from technology companies that the measures weakened privacy and security.

While Labor pushed for amendments to the bill throughout the day, it caved to the government’s demands and passed the bill in the form agreed by the government shortly before 7pm.

The outcome gives security agencies the ability to intercept encrypted messages on services like WhatsApp and Facebook, requiring those companies to work with police to monitor suspected terrorists or criminals.

Defence Minister Christopher Pyne accused Labor of being soft on terrorism because it had prevented the smooth passage of the encryption laws.

"Labor has chosen to allow terrorists and paedophiles to continue their evil work in order to engage in point scoring," Mr Pyne tweeted at about 4pm, before deleting that claim soon afterwards.

Mr Shorten announced shortly before 7pm that Labor would pass the laws because it did not want Australians to be exposed to security risks over the summer break before Parliament resumes in February.

He said it was "rubbish" to suggest he had backed down on the encryption laws and insisted he had to be the "adult in the room" to pass the changes when Mr Morrison had left Parliament while the Senate was still debating the laws.

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"They were willing to play chicken with national security laws," Mr Shorten said.

The government tactics forced Labor to decide whether to amend the bill in the Senate, and therefore postpone the final law until the House of Representatives considered those changes next February, or vote for the bill without amendments and make it law immediately.

Mr Shorten had few options because the lower house rose at 5pm on Thursday and could not consider any amendments from the Senate until next year.

"Let’s just make Australians safe over Christmas," Mr Shorten said.

"I’m not willing to go home and see a terror event happen, which we’re told is less likely than more likely.

"I’m not going to have on my conscience Mr Morrison’s hostage-taking tactics where he cancels his own work and they go home, and then we just leave Australians swinging in the breeze. That’s not who I am."

While the government passed its national security laws, it went on the attack against Mr Shorten for trying to amend migration laws.

The amendments to migration laws sought to restrict the discretion of the immigration minister to reject medical transfers of asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus Island.

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The changes would force the hand of the immigration minister to relocate an asylum seeker to Australia if two doctors recommended the transfer. The minister could refuse to do so, but would face a further recommendation from an expert medical panel.

If the panel insisted on the transfer, the minister would have to allow it unless he or she could refuse it on security grounds. This would include adverse security findings by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) but also other "security" concerns defined in ASIO laws, such as "the protection of Australia's territorial and border integrity from serious threats".

Immigration Minister David Coleman said this meant any two doctors in Australia could force the transfer of an asylum seeker, undermining the offshore processing regime that has stopped boat arrivals.

"Under this bill, if one or two doctors, via Skype in Hobart, say that someone on Nauru should come to Australia for assessment – not even treatment, merely assessment – that would occur even if the doctors who are actually on Nauru, and actually seeing that person, say it’s not required," Mr Coleman said.

Mr Morrison said Labor had been telling voters they were "the same as us" on border protection but were showing they had a different approach that would weaken border protection.

"I’ll fight them using whatever tool or tactic I have available to me to ensure that we do not undermine our border protection laws," Mr Morrison declared.

"This is about Australia's safety and Bill Shorten is a clear and present threat to Australia’s safety because he is so obsessed with politics that he cannot see the national interest."